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The Beginner’s Guide to German Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 11, 2016
If you’re a fan of this blog, you’ll love our new Beginner’s Guide to German. Here on the German blog, we post a variety of content for learners of all levels. For the beginners among us who haven’t combed through our archives, you may be missing some of our older, but extremely useful introductory content…
Do More with the German Word of the Day Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 11, 2016
How many of you subscribe to our German Word of the Day? (If you’re not subscribed—don’t miss out!) How many of you open the email religiously, read and listen to the new word and phrase, then close the email and forget all about it? We’re not judging—you’re not the only one! That minute or two…
Zeit für eine Geschichte – Teil 5: Das Gespräch Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 14, 2015
This is Teil 5 (part 5) of the story of Max, a German student. Be sure to read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 first! Last week, Max caught the bus for his appointment at the eye doctor’s. In the bus, he liked to do some people watching. He was very curious about an…
German Numbers 1 – 20 Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 24, 2012
We’ve created this handy little table of German numbers from 1 to 20 for students who are new to learning German. Included is a video with native speaker pronunciation – listen to it several times, and make sure to practice your own pronunciation by speaking the numbers out loud. In the absence of an instructor…
Essen’s SPIEL Fair 2009 Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 24, 2009
Germans take board gaming ernst. In German culture, it’s considered a family-oriented hobby, popular to the point that a whole genre of board games exists known as “German-style games,” “Euro-games,” or “designer board games.” These Spiele aren’t your Grandma’s Monopoly (though Germans play that, too). The genre is known for high production value, favoring wooden…
Dative Case Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 18, 2009
The dative case is used to indentify indirect objects. Indirect objects ask ‘for whom’ or ‘to whom’. Example: Alexander gibt seinem Freund 200 Euro. Alexander gives his friend 200 Euros. In this case ‘seinem Freund’ is the dative Here is the dative of the definite article. Dative masculine: dem Dative feminine: der Dative neuter: dem Dative plural…
Vornamen Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 12, 2009
I’ve always been fascinated by German vornamen, or first names. Today we’ll look at some of the meanings and origins of German first names. If you don’t have a German name, hopefully this will inspire you to choose a German name that best represents yourself. Anna/Anne : is a populär girl’s name. It means “grace”…